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[notsolomon]

This is William Twining. I shall reply to your message at my earliest convenience. Thank you. ***BEEP***

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[babermetrics]

Ow, hey! I totally let you have that one! Don't make me get serious on your first try!

[Please don't, that'd be embarrassing. But he can tell that time is fast approaching, and turns some of his attention back onto the screen to launch a counterattack.]

[notsolomon]

Do not take me so lightly then.

[No please take him lightly. It makes it easier to win.

He isn't able to block the counterattack fast enough. It doesn't connect entirely, but it still does more damage then William would like.

He needs to rally and quickly.]

This is trickier though.

[babermetrics]

You do know this's supposed to be for fun, right?

[Spoken like someone who just got a hit in, of course. He doesn't relent this time, since William was kind enough to ask him not to! and immediately moves in for another low sweep of his lady's lovely legs.]

But yeah, 'course it's trickier when this's your first time!

[notsolomon]

Hah, I am having fun.

[Competition was inherently fun for him. Well losing not so much, but he wasn't a person to forgo a challenge. Even when it was something trivial like this.

And that wasn't fair to tripping him up like that. So William's going to take the moment his character gets up to do a running charge.]

Fortunately I am a fast learner!

[babermetrics]

It'd be no fun if you weren't any challenge, y'know? I had enough of that in my life, ha ha!

[Not that he likes losing, either. But baseball . . . well, okay, maybe he'd liked baseball some, like just a little, the teeniest tiniest bit, but it sure wasn't because it was "fun" to completely destroy every opponent the world could send his way.

. . . Mostly.

He tries to jump to dodge the charge, but he's half a second too late. WOMAN DOWN.]

[notsolomon]

Oh? You must have had it pretty easy up until you came up against me.

[Yeah the egotism is going a bit strong right now, though it's not meant maliciously.

That was a good opportunity and William's nails Leon's lady hard. He'd almost feel bad about it too, but he's going to go at this with a bit more relentless enthusiasm.]

[babermetrics]

I wasn't talkin' about video games—ah, shit! Shit shit shit shit shit one sec—

[Dammit, he needs to concentrate! Stupid prodigy William! It's time to get serious. It's time to bust out . . . a special move.

Well, first he's got to get close enough to William's character, though. That's the downside of the Special Move.]

[notsolomon]

[Fortunately for Leon, William isn't thinking about any special moves, so he's pulling in closer than he should.

He's aiming to finish this now.]

Don't sound so desperate.

[babermetrics]

[Aha! As soon as William's within reach, he makes the grab and connects, flinging the dude off across the screen in a shower of blood. It's not enough to entirely take him down, but that health bar just plummeted to close to nothing. HELL YEAAAAAAAH!]

Ha haaaa! Now who's desperate, huh?!

[He pumps a fist, rocking back against the couch with glee.]

[notsolomon]

[He's kind of shocked and not just because that happened. But because whatever just happened was really gross. But also looked really flashy.

And then he gets past that and is now annoyed.]

I am going to turn the tables around! Right now!

[He has one chance so he's going to work out a combo that he's sure has a low chance of being dodged. But it's a long shot. So William's just going to rush in and risk it all on potential death run.]

[babermetrics]

[SORRY DUDE. Leon almost panics at that sheer display of balls, but Ninja Fan Girl has a medium-range attack with her Ninja Fans, and he throws one once William is within range but before he can connect, taking him out.

Thank god, that might have been really embarrassing.

He doesn't get the badass gory special ending, though.]

Ha haaa! Gotcha! Man, that was cool! You totally catch on quick!

[notsolomon]

Dammit!

[But he's staring at the game over screen now, annoyed and mentally going over all of his mistakes.]

I am going to redeem myself.

[babermetrics]

Hell yeah, that was just number one! Don't think I'm gonna let you get away yet! I dunno about redeem yourself, though . . .

[He laughs, all bright smiles, and then the doorbell rings. Whoops. Pizza has good timing. (Maybe CERES is watching them and deliberately waited until they didn't have to pause the game? Don't think about that . . . )

He hauls himself off the couch to go grab it.]

[notsolomon]

Just you wait. Things will soon be on the right course.

[But fortunately the pizza is here. Revenge can always wait for food.

He's just going to watch from the couch though, trying not to look too sulky. Which is hard right now.]

[babermetrics]

[He grabs the goods from the 'bot and then turns to get back inside and set it on the coffee table, laughing when he gets a look at William's face. Dude.]

Did you really think you were gonna beat my ass your first time? You're just gonna make all your future defeats even sweeter for me like that!

[notsolomon]

I will concede this first loss as a necessary part of the learning curve. But like I said, the future will be different.

[But he's just going to grab a slice of pizza and and start eating in order to soothe his bitter disappointment. He'll probably be less childish about his as the evening wears on. Probably.]

[babermetrics]

You're like the worst loser I've ever met, and I know myself.

[He snorts, grabbing a piece himself. And then glancing over to watch William eat. How do fancy rich past-people eat pizza? Like normal people? Interesting . . . ]

[notsolomon]

I just hold myself to a high standard is all.

[And because he's petty.

Well a fork takes too much time when it comes to pizza. And it's not like they don't have hand held foods back home. Thought some of it is irredeemable to say the least.]

It's not bad, though it's much thinner than I'm used to.

[babermetrics]

Eh, really? I wasn't even sure you'd had it before . . . what kind d'you usually eat?

[He settles in to eat, and shifts close to lean lightly up against William's side. There's plenty of room on the couch, but . . . it's nice. Just a little bit. He doesn't get enough of this these days. And up his feet go on the table too, because he's a rude ass, but at least he's being a rude ass in his own place.]

[notsolomon]

When Camio and John made them, they were pretty heavy crusts, slabs of mozzarella and basil on them.

[He leans back against Leon, thinking about it. Better memories of better days. Back when everyone was still talking to each other.]

It takes much longer to make though.

[babermetrics]

Basil, huh? Sounds like the kinda fancy thing you'd eat . . .

[He clearly does not really. Know a lot about pizza. Or herbs. He's surprised to even hear pizza had been invented back then!]

Man, that's so weird! I always figured pizza was pretty modern. I guess that's just in Japan, though. Camio and John? Those friends of yours?

[notsolomon]

We have a lot of immigrants from Italy right now, so that's part of the reason.

[Not that one found it often in the small town he went to school at.]

Oh Camio is one of the demons I mentioned. And John is his butler. He used to be John Dee...

Oh you would know of him probably, but he's a very famous mathematician and occultist who died two hundred years before my time.

[Wow his life sounds so bizarre and batshit sometimes. Almost makes William wish he'd continued being in denial about the supernatural. It spared him from saying these weird things.]

[babermetrics]

[No kidding. Leon's brain does a record scratch at that. He'd been in the middle of a bite of pizza, but instead of taking it, he gets distracted with his teeth half sunk in and turns to William with wide eyes.]

Hhhnnn?!

[And full mouth.]

[notsolomon]

...what?

[He munches on some pizza before he responds, because yeah that probably was a bit too much for Leon.]

It is very weird, but it was actually part of my daily life back home.

[babermetrics]

At least you know it's weird . . . so you just know dudes who're hundreds of years old? That's so crazy!

[He puts his pizza down and sits back again, crossing his legs.]

I wonder if my world's like that too or somethin' and i just never figured it out.

[After all, there's a lot he'd never figured out about his world, he's come to realize since leaving it.]